Bearings, such as radial bearings, are commonly employed in equipment and machinery and may be exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions. Accordingly, bearings are sometimes sealed. Such seals are multifunctional. For example, the seals in the bearings retain lubricants installed in the bearings during manufacture. In addition, the seals in the bearings also prevent contaminants, such as liquids and/or particulate matter, from entering the bearing and contacting the rolling elements and/or the surfaces of the bearing raceways.
Triple-lip seals have been employed in bearings to serve the aforementioned sealing function. However, existing triple-lip seal designs have several drawbacks. For example, the triple-lip seals are land-riding, meaning that the triple-lip seals are engaged with a flat surface of the outer diameter of the inner race of the bearing to form a seal. The interface between the triple-lip seal and the flat surface of the inner race often times does not adequately seal the bearing and/or the seal may be easily defeated. Furthermore, earlier triple-lip seal designs require the use of an extended inner race which provides the interface with the triple-lip seal. This extended inner race adds significant cost to the bearing in both material and equipment as significant modifications to the bearing manufacturing equipment must be made. In many cases, the machinery in which the bearing is utilized must be redesigned and/or modified to accommodate the extended inner race. Moreover, current triple-lip seal designs often utilize a metal crimp on their outer diameter which fits into the bearing outer race. However, to enable the crimping function, the metal crimps often include perforations around their circumference which allows water to leak into the bearing, thereby defeating the purpose of the triple-lip seal.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative triple-lip seals for bearings and bearings incorporating the same.